Sheet separating, registering, and feeding apparatus.



H113. GREEN. SHEET SEPARATING, REGISTERING, AND FEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, 1909. 1,039,521

Patented 'Spt. 24, 1912.

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7 character it has been customary to separate i HARRY B. qnnnn, or woonnrrmz, new JERSEY.

SHEET SEPABATING, REGISTERING, AND EEEDINGAPPARATUS.

Spe'cificatfon of Letters Patent. I Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

Application filed September 30, 1909. Serial No. 520,299.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY B. GREEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVoodbury, county of Gloucester, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet Separating, Registering, and Feeding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for se arating sheets of paper or the like from a I pi e of such sheets and feeding each sheet to. mechanism for acting thereon as by printing, folding into envelops or the like, in which cases accurate feeding is required. Heretofore in apparatus of this general the sheet, then register it by separate devices, and finally feed it to the press or this object by usin t folders, but by my improved apparatus the separating, registering and feeding devices -may all be actlng on the .sheet at the same time, so that a sheet may: be accurately fed directly into the grippers of the drum of the ress, for instance, before its separation om the pile is com leted. I accomplish e pile guides as rear and side reglsters or the sheet, and, before separation is completed, grasping the sheet at a predetermined distance from the rear pile guide, so that the rinting, for instance, will always appear at t e same distance from the rear end of the sheet. without regard to either variations in the size of the sheets or inaccuracies in separation.

In the specific form shown I have indicated a rotary'printing press, and I use a reciprocating feed table driven from the press drum and a suction roll rotated by a rack on the feed table as the main elements of the separating mechanism. -A djacent to thesuction roll is a friction roll driven from the press drum, at the same circumferential speed as the drum, and an idle pressure roll which presses upon the friction roll at intervals timed with the movements of the feed table. By these means the bottom sheet of the pile is separated and fed forward at a relatively slow speed between the friction roll and the pressure roll, the latter being raised until the feed table advances to a predetermined point, drops speed of the press drum directly intb. the grippers on the drum.

, eferring to the accom a yins draw g Figure 1 1s a plan view -0 a rotary P n press containing my separating,

.the purpose hereinafter when the pressure roll and the sheet is fed forward at the registering and feeding device. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line II-II of Fig. 1.

1 and 1 are the cylinders or drums of a rotary to the cylinder 1. The cylinder 1 is driven from a source of power (not shown) and the two cylinders are geared together so as to be driven at the same speed, and the cylinder 1 is keyed orotherwise fixed to a shaft 2, which carries at each end a crank 3, 3', to which are connected links 4, 4'. These links are ivotally connected to pins 5, 5 fixed to the eed table 6, which is inclined and adapted to slide in a frame 7, so that when the press drums are revolved the feed table reciprocates,

The feed table is provided with a rear guide 8 and side guides 9, 9, all of which are adjustable on t 1e feed table by means of the slots 10 and the set screws 11. On the forward end and preferabl at one side of the feed table there is a xed a rack 12, which meshes with a pinion 13 at the end of the suction roll 14. The suction roll is hollow and. connected to an air pum (not shown) in any manner well known -1Ilthis art, and is provided with one or more openin s 15.

ournaled in the forward endof the side guides 9. is a rod 16, carrying a number'of depending fingers 17, which may be set in any desired position on the rod by means of thumb screws 18. The rod 16 also carries a stop 19, having a roller 20 at its lower end and adjustable on the rod 16 by means of the thumb screw 21. The spring 22 tends to twist the rod 16 so as to swing the lower ends of the fin ers 17- and the stop 19 in toward the feecf table.

. printing press, the type being fixed The lower ends of 1 the fingers 17 are provided with lips 23 for explained. On the other side of the suction roll from the feed table and at about the level of the upper surface of the feed table, is a separat n knife 24;, adjustable in position by means 0 the screw 25. Below the separating knife 24 is a friction roll 26 driven from the gearing on the drum 1 through the intermediate gear 27 and the gear 26 on the end of the iction roll, and a guide 28 extends from the suction roll 14 through a depression in the friction roll to the up drum 1 at about the pomt where the grippers on the drum take the sheet.

Journa led in the main f me of the m a-.

pair of chine is a rock shaft 29, to which is fixed at one end a depending rock arm 30, carrying on its extreme end a projection 31 adjustable thereon by -means of the screw 82. There are also fixed on this rock shaft 29 a rock arms 33, 38, in the ends of which is journaled a pressure roll 34, which may be an idle roll or may carry at one end a gear 35 adapted to mesh with the gear 26 on the end of the friction roll 33 may be provided with an offset arm 36, which receives pressure from the spring 37.

The crank plate 3 at the end of the drum shaft 2 is provided with a projection 88 for the purpose hereinafter explained. The drum 1 is provided with grippers 39 of the usual type in printing presses of this variety. p

The operation of my invention is as follows: The feed table 6 is set at the rear limit of its stroke, at which time the holes 15 in the suction roll 14 are at the top of the roll with respect to the plane of the feed table. A ile of sheets is then placed on the table, an after being centered by means of the side guides 9, the rear guide 8 is setso that the forward edge of the pile just covers the holes 15 in the suction roll.

The stop 19 is set so that the wheel 20 .is hearing against 'rating knife the suction roll 14: under pressure from the spring 22, and the depending fingers 17- are set at the same angle. When the machine is started the feed table moves toward the suction roll and the rack 12 rotates the suction roll so that its surface speed is that of the feed table. The suction causes thebottom sheet of the pile to adhere to the roll and turn down around the roll under the sepa- 24, while the balance of the pile passes over the suction roll on top of the separating knife 24 and on the lips 23 of the depending fingers 17, which lips swing under the pile as the feed table advances, owing to the pressure of the spring 22. As the feed table advances further, the separated sheet reaches the guide 28, which may also act as a stripper from the suction roll 14, where the sheet leaves the suction roll and the suction has no further action upon this particular sheet Continued forward motion of the feed table forces the separated sheet down to the friction roll 26, and at this stage of the movement of the feed table the projection 38 on the crank plate 3' strikes the projection 31 on the arm 30, which rocks the arms 33, 33 and slightly raises the pressure roll-34 against the pressure of the spring 37. This permits the separated sheet to enter between the friction roll and the pressure roll, but the sheet is not affected by these two rolls until the feed table has reached nearly the forward limit of its movement, when the rejection 38 on the crank plate 3' passes by t e projection 31 on the arm 30, allowing the spring 37 to The arm.

from the pile, .said sheetbefore separation is completed and feeding it to operating mechanism.-

manner vforce the pressure roll 34 down upon the separated sheet, so as to cause the same to be instantly fed forward at the surfacespeed of the drum, and as it leaves the guide 28 it is taken by the grippers 39 on the drum. It is thus seen that when roll 34: is in action with friction roll 26 they provide a positive means for holding the sheet in a registered position, and at the-same time feed it to the operating mechanism which in this case is the printing press,

It will. be observed. that after the suction roll has started the separation and ceased its function, the sheet is pushed forward by the rear guide 8, and inasmuch as the dropping of the pressure roll on the friction roll is controlled by a earn from which the feed table is operated, the sheet is always grasped for feeding at the same distance from the rear guide 8, making inaccuracies in the size of the sheet or in its separation from the pile practical y immaterial.

It will be obvious to those skilled in this art that many changes may be made in the mechanical details of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof, but I be lieve that it is broadly new in apparatus of this character to register a sheet before the separation is completed, or to register the sheet from the guides providedfor the pile.

It will be observed that the stroke of the feed table need not be varied for different size sheets, as the forward movementthereof need only be sufficient to carry the separated sheet under the pressure roll; and it will also be observed that by this construction I am able to perform the early and difficult steps of the separation at a low speed and to pull thesheet out from under the pile at a high speed.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for se arating, registering and feeding sheets, t e combination of means for reciprocating a pile of the sheets, means for separating a single sheet and means for registering 2. In an apparatus forse arating, registering and feeding sheets, t e'combination of means for reciprocating a pile of the sheets, means for separating a single sheet from the pile, a rear guide for the pile, and

means for registering said sheet from said pil e guide and feeding it to operating mechanlsm.

3. In an apparatus for separating, registering and feeding sheets, the combination of means for reciprocating a pile 'of the sheets, means for separating a single sheet from the pile, rear and side guides for the pile, and means for registering said sheet from said pile guides and feeding it to operating mechanism. I

4. In an apparatus for se arating, registering and feeding sheets, the combination of means for reciprocating a pile of the sheets, a suction roll-adapted to strip ofi the bottom sheet of the pile on the forward stroke thereof, and meansfor registering said sheet before separation is completed and feeding it to operating mechanism.

5. In an apparatus for separating, registering and feeding sheets, the combinationof means for reciprocating a pile of the sheets, a suction roll adapted to strip off the bottom sheet of the pile on the forward stroke thereof, a rear guide for the pile, and means for registering said sheet from said pile guide and feeding it to operating mechanism.

6. In an apparatus for separating, registering and feeding sheets, the combination of means for reciprocating a pile of the sheets, a suction roll adapted to strip OK the bottom sheet of the pile on the forward stroke thereof, rear and side guides for the pile, and means for registering said sheet from said pile guides and feeding it to operating mechanism.

7. In an apparatus for separating, registering and feeding sheets, the combination of means for reciprocating a pile of the sheets, a suction roll adapted to strip off the bottom sheet of the pile on the forward stroke thereof, a revolving friction roll adjacent to said suction roll, and a pressure roll adapted to contact with said friction roll at intervals timed with the movements of the pile.

8. In an apparatus for se arating, registering and feeding sheets, t e combination of means for reciprocating a pile of the sheets, a suction roll adapted to strip off the bottom sheet of the pile on the forward stroke thereof, a revolving friction roll adjacent to said suction roll, and an idle presthe bottom sheet ofthe pile on the forward,

stroke thereof, a revolving friction roll adjacent to said suction roll and having a surface speed substantially equal to the speed of the gripping device of the operating mechanism, a pressure roll adapted to contact with said friction roll at intervals timed with the movements of the pile and a gripping device in the operating mechanism.

10. In an apparatus for separating, registering and feeding sheets, the combination of a. reciprocating feed table, a rear pile guide thereon, a suction roll adapted to strip off the bottom sheet of the pile on the forward stroke thereof, a revolving friction roll adjacent to said suction roll, and a pressure roll adapted to contact with said friction roll at intervals timed with the movements of said rear pile guide.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY B. GREEN.

Witnesses: CHAS. H.-DAVIS, HOWARD F. WILKINS. 

